GuruFocus Quarterly Contest: What Stocks Did Warren Buffett Buy?

January 31, 2008

In two weeks Warren Buffett will report his portfolios for the fourth quarter of 2007. GuruFocus is once again holding the quarterly contest, inviting users to best guess what stocks Warren Buffett bought in the last quarter.

The stock market had a wild ride during the fourth quarter of 2007. Financials were hit especially hard, including some very good companies. Warren Buffett must be busy shopping because opportunities like this do not come very often.

It is widely reported that Warren Buffett has decided to get into the Bond Insurance business as other insurers struggle. After the New Year, Buffett also bought about 2 million shares of Burlington northern Santa Fe Corp.

We would like to invite everyone to participate this contest. The top two winners will each win a copy of great investment book selecting from this list:

Registered users may participate this contest by entering up to 3 stock symbols into the comment area of this post. Also state briefly the reasons for your guesses. The deadline for this contest will be when Warren Buffett releases information of Berkshire's holdings, which will be before Feb. 15. Write your answer to the comment area. If you are not registered, you need to register to participate.

Now that I learned more about BRK, shouldn't this be a what did Berkshire Hathaway buy contest?

Anyways ... here are my three. I am picking them because they are his previous picks that I think he was most likely to add more of. My reason is universal. All these stocks have dropped in price since WEB last bought them. So, they are already known to be in his circle of competence and in his view, undervalued.

BNI USB WFC

I would say the lock is WFC, but he already owns a heck of a lot of it.

I see Warren for valuation bargains loading up further on WFC, adding to his USB holdings and investing in a Bond Insurer....MBIA...could fit with the earlier telephone conversation from the New York Insurance dept that got Warren interested in writing Bond Insurance

WFC : one of his favorite. I think it is a lock considering it's earlier bottom (25-28$).

BNI : obviously.

AXP : Not sure about that one, but it is still my best choice for my 3rd pick.

I have a question, the answer should be pretty simple : why do we know that WEB buys BNI but we don't know about his other buyings ? Is it simply because BRK chooses to reveal a buy for BNI but not for the other buyings ? If BRK buys another 5% of WFC, would it be forced to divulge it ?

How about Royal Caribbean. It maybe the one everyone here is sleeping on. Remember that Buffet is more a secular bettor than a value investor. So he maybe willing to load up adding to his already 15% stake visa his purchase of Marmon.

Disclaimers: GuruFocus.com is not operated by a broker, a dealer, or a registered investment adviser. Under no circumstances does any information posted on GuruFocus.com represent a recommendation to buy or sell a security. The information on this site, and in its related newsletters, is not intended to be, nor does it constitute, investment advice or recommendations. The gurus may buy and sell securities before and after any particular article and report and information herein is published, with respect to the securities discussed in any article and report posted herein. In no event shall GuruFocus.com be liable to any member, guest or third party for any damages of any kind arising out of the use of any content or other material published or available on GuruFocus.com, or relating to the use of, or inability to use, GuruFocus.com or any content, including, without limitation, any investment losses, lost profits, lost opportunity, special, incidental, indirect, consequential or punitive damages. Past performance is a poor indicator of future performance. The information on this site, and in its related newsletters, is not intended to be, nor does it constitute, investment advice or recommendations. The information on this site is in no way guaranteed for completeness, accuracy or in any other way. The gurus listed in this website are not affiliated with GuruFocus.com, LLC.
Stock quotes provided by InterActive Data. Fundamental company data provided by Morningstar, updated daily.